Cinque Terre: Bandanna D-Bags, HELL YEAH!

Location: Northwest Coast of Italy
Saturday, April 10, 2010- Monday, April 12, 2010

Saturday consisted of about 10 hours of traveling, 4 metro rides, 3 train rides, and a plane ride. Allora...

Finally arrived in Cinque Terre and the car that was supposed to be picking us up was no where to be seen. Called them and they said they would leave in 5 minutes. We play some volleyball in the parking lot of the train station and Alex tries to show off and knocks the ball on the roof resulting in him climbing on top of the train station to retrieve it and scaring the crap out of all of us, except Maggie who egged him on for her own entertainment. A half hour later, we call again and turns out they forgot to pick us up, again. We finally make it to our bungalow and it feels like summer camp all over again. We raid their onsite dinning facility and I learn first hand why Genoa is known for its pesto. Maggie and I split a pesto pizza and a mushroom pizza and I think I have died and gone to heaven. We decide to stay up and do what everyone who is staying in a secluded woodsy area wants to do, tell scary stories. The stories range from real to not real and back to real again. I told a story from when I was younger and someone broke into our house and cut our phone lines. That legit is the end of the story because we found them cut and called the cops and nothing happened but hey, thats not that scary is it? So I tweak the story with some bloody knives, broken door handles, a dead dog, and a creepy ringing cell phone when the truth is my dog is still alive and kicking and I didn't have a cell phone at the time. At the end of the story I sum it up with "and that girl was me" cueing everyone to freak out, then I let them in on the little joke. I listen to everyone else's stories and then come up with a totally 100% made up story that about a girl in my high school who had mysterious pictures of her left on her doorstep and then more pictures left a couple days later of her standing there looking at the pictures followed by more pictures taken out of frames in her own house. Gives you the heebie jeebies right? Haha, then I laughed and told them i made the whole thing up. Later, Joanna and I huddle together in the front room of the bungalow for warmth (this is now the second time we have opted to share a bed when there was a free one available) and someone starts tapping on the windows. Not scared at all but when I ask the girls in the other room if they can hear the tapping, the tell me to shut up and stop trying to scare them prompting me to utter the infamous line out of pure frustration "Courtney.... fuck off!" Courtney senses my frustration and we laugh until we fall asleep.

Wake up early to hike the next day. We all wear our bandannas (Court's idea) and stupid outfits (our idea) and high sock's (steph and tina's idea). Now we have just come from Greece which was shorts and swim suit weather and no one considered the fact that northern Italy may be a little more on the chilly side. Well when we stepped off the train to hike to the first town and literally saw people in parkas and winter jackets, we knew we were fucked. We bought some hot chocolate and sucked it up including all the glares and confused glances we received as was our intention with the bandannas and goofy outfits before factoring in the 20 degree temperature drop. We now officially not only look like major d-bags but freezing d-bags. Cinque Terre is somewhat of a natural park consisting of 5 towns that are rather touristy and trails leading between them that range from 40 minute to 2 and half hour hike. The towns are built into the side of a cliff and the hikes are literally some of the most breathtaking views I will ever see. We hit up the first 2 towns on the prowl for sweatshirts and shelter. But then right after the second town a miracle happens, and the sun appears and suddenly we still look like d-bags, just slightly warmer and less inappropriately dressed d-bags. We stop in each town for a pausa as needed including pesto pizza, gelato, and more pesto pizza in that order. The hike between the fourth and fifth towns was the best because it was the longest and we played some interesing games including "if you were an ice cream flavor" (stracitella), "if you were a boy" (Alex Roth), and "what actor/actress are you" (Anna Ferris). The hike was actually a little bit more intense than what we were thinking and then out of nowhere a man in a chicken wire shack appears selling fresh squeezed lemonade- only in Europe does this seem legit to buy lemonade from a man in the side of a cliff in a hut made of chicken wire. We buy some, of course. We finally finish the hike, and did all 5 towns in 1 day and 7 hours, go us.

Back to the camp site, and our bungalows. Settle in for a chill night with some Vino and drinking games. One of the games exemplifies why I am so obsessed with these people. We play a game where you have to mimick someone's sounds and if you can't you lose. Now the sounds people make are ridiculous and require one to feel very comfortable with the group, which of course we all are at this point because we have slowly and surely become obsessed with each other. At the end of the game, we make Mia do her famous high pitched "VEEEEERONA" followed by Maura's man voiced "Hell yeah" and we mimic both. This is officially the moment I fell in love with the people traveling with me that week and realized that I now had 18 new soul mates.

Ain't life funny....

Ios: Hey, do you guys think this lady is a pimp?

Wednesday April 7, 2010- Thursday, April 8, 2010
The last minutes, we decided to cut our trip to Athens short and instead jump over to Ios, another greek island about an hour away from Santorini by ferry. Got on the ferry, and instantly regretted not planning ahead and bringing that Dramamine my mom had so cleverly packed away for me knowing my stomach’s aversion to any kind of movement. Spent most of the time in the bathroom wearing my goofy hat and looking like a train wreck while trying to nurse both my motion sickness and the hangover accompanying it. The minute the ferry pulled in, I raced off the boat to be greeted by a 20 something British guy who worked for our hostel and was there to pick us up. Honestly, one look at him along with his British accent and I knew someone was going to BOMO him by the end of the night. I also think he saw a group consisting of 18 girls and 2 boys and new he had hit the lottery for the night. Roomed with Courtney at the hostel and headed out to find a beach which was about a 20 min walk, or atleast it was supposed to be. After following the signs, we find our selves on the side of a mountain following a path that doesn’t look like it’s been used in the past 200 years. Realizing that it was too late to turn back, we forged forward and eventually found a beach, later to be christened “Magic Beach”. It was a gorgeous beach between some huge rocks that looked like it had been left there especially for us. Being that we were the only ones within 5 miles of this beach, we take the opportunity to do what anyone would do if they found themselves and all their friends on a secluded beach far from civilization; we hold the first Verona Olympics consisting of sprints, high jump, and rock toss. Maggie and Joanna find themselves victorious. Kaitlin initiates a sand castle which after people join in becomes the most epic sandcastle I have ever been a part of complete with stone walls, a mote, and a draw bridge. Then we thought it would be a good idea to build a four tier pyramid behind it as we took a picture, it wasn't. Maggie, Joanna, and I swim out in the freezing water and climb a rock to jump off. Hiked back up the mountain, encountered HUGE goats with large enough horns to make me fear goats for the first time in my life.
Dinner consisted of 2 euro gyros and 2.50 cokes. Went to the bar downstairs of our hostel where some 30 year old Canadian lady named Julie (or Judy, we’re not sure) served us up shots. The 60 year old owner showed up and bought us more shots. 10 shots deep and I was feeling tipsy so I’m going to go with the shots were not actually shots, but sugared water. Then she tells us that she has some friends that are excited to meet us. She fails to tell us that her “friends” are actually 40 year old burly greek men who stare at us creepily. The first bar, it’s just us on the island, because it is the low tourist season and we do “TICK TOC”, of course. “Celebration” comes on and Courtney runs into the bar and loses it. Julie Judy pushes us on her friends and it is incredibly awkward. We now wonder if she is some kind of pimp trying to whore us out to these men. Some of us go on to another bar afterwards and now Julie Judy is insanely persistent and we have a conversation that goes a lot like this.

Jj: Who do you want to fuck tonight?
Me: (looking around at the 10 greasy men gawking at me). My boyfriend.
Jj: (continuing to push) He’s not here is he?
Me: No, but he’s been there for 2 years. (stare her down and walk away)

She left me alone but continued to push my single friends who were about to cry lesbian so she would leave them alone. Finally, my friend Erin had to set our madam straight.

Jj: Who do you want to fuck tonight?
Erin: No one.
Jj: What! why?
Erin: Hey come in a little closer, let me tell you a secret “I DON’T FUCK RANDOM GUYS!!”
Julie Judy left us alone for the rest of the night.

The next day, we dragged ourselves out of bed and follow the signs to the actual beach. Halfway down the long windy rode, a van stops and offers us a ride to the beach. Climb in and wonder what children safety classes would say about this one. The driver is Australian and I am starting to wonder if anyone around here is Greek. The beach is really nice and there is a beautiful pool/lounge along it. I show off my killer volleyball skills (sarcasm) and we get ready to catch the ferry to Athens.

Athens:
Got into Athens late Thursday after a 5 hour ferry ride that wasn’t nearly as bad as the ride to Ios. Kaitlin, Erin, Courtney, Meg, Lily, and myself all roomed together. Our hostel was awesome and our room had a kitchen, living room, and flat screen so I’m pretty sure we got the upgrade that was supposed to go to the other group. Whooops. The next day, we took a walking tour around Athens and saw all the usual sites. The tour guide was slightly eccentric but it made the tour more interesting. I was surprised at how nice Athens was, I expected it to be kind of dirty and scetchy but it was actually very clean and pretty. Unlike Santorini, Athens tags all their strays with collars but it is still sad to see so many dogs without owners. The tour lead us to the Acropolis where we flashed our Erasmus id's and got in for free. Seeing the Parthenon was incredible, I still don't understand how it can still be standing. There was a great view of the entire city from up there too. We took a ton of pictures and when they started to get goofy, we started to get yelled at by the poeple working there. Joana took a picture just holding Tina, and this woman hisses "please be serious". We responded by giving each of ourselves an animal alter ego that we had to act out and take pictures of. More dirty glares, and it was time to go. Hung out on the "Rock of Democracy" for a while which is apparently where the founders of democracy came up with the idea, very nice. Later, we hit up the street market with 5 euro ray ban knockoffs, 1 euro pounds of strawberries, and 1.80 euro gyros. That night, the group all choose to different things. We pregamed in our suite and half of us decided that we would make the trek to where else: McDonald's. On the way there, we buy some beer form a street vendor and spot a club called "Lollipop", someone points out that it looked like a strip club prompting the only boy in our group to pull a u-turn and beeline straight for it. Mia, Kaitlin, Erin, Lauren, Kalyn, and myself give each other awkward looks and decide to follow Matt in. Turns out it was not a strip club at all but instead a dance club with approximately 5 other people in it, including the bartenders. Not a problem, I feel a fun night coming on. We decide to be bold and carry in our beers and to our shock, the bartenders say nothing. We dance, we drink, and we still want McD's. Finally make it at 3 in the morning and run into Americans we had met earlier in Santorini which seemed weird at first until you considered the fact that it was he only 24 hour McDonald's in the city and Americans are predictable. Order chicken nuggets for the first time in years and call it a night. 8 hours of traveling the next day to get back to Italy.

As for the strikes and riots in Greece, we were lucky not to encounter any of that.

Arrivaderci Grecia,

Ciao Cinque Terre

Santorini: That donkey just KICKED me!

Saturday April 4, 2010- Wednesday April 7, 2010

To sum it up, the week I went to Greece and Cinque Terre with 20 of the funniest and craziest people I have ever met was the best week of my life.

Day 1: After somehow surviving a 5 hour layover from midnight to 5 am in the Athens airport or rather the McDonald’s coach in the Athens airport (yes, this is the second time I have slept on a airport McDonald’s coach), I landed in Santorini at 6 am, just in time to witness the sunrise to top all sunrises. I literally had one of those moments where you have to pinch yourself to make sure you’re not dreaming. A lovely man named Stelios picked me up and took me back to the hostel consequently named, Stelio’s Place where my room was not ready yet because well it was 6 am on Easter Sunday. Got put in a room underneath his garage to hang out for a few hours until the room was ready. It had no windows and smelled weird, but it was an upgrade for the McDonalds the night before. Emerged around 10 am to find all my friends who had gotten there the previous day and were relieved that solo me had arrived in one piece. Jumped on an atv, no worries, I wasn’t driving and all 20 of yes sped off to explore the island for the day. First stop: Red Beach, a beach with rocks that are well, red. Hike down some intense rocks in my sun dress and flip-flops. Swam out because the water wasn’t nearly as cold as expected and the sun was much hotter than expected. Made it to a cove that looked like something out of a movie. Still pinching myself to make sure I’m not dreaming. Back on the ATVs, lunch at a pastry shop, and take some more pictures that will never do the island justice. Six brave souls decide to carry one to Thira (the main city where pictures while thinking of Santorini) to go cliff jumping. At this point, Matt asks me if I want to drive. I tell him straight up: I was voted worst driver in high school. How lucky are you feeling today? He smiles and hops on behind me, makes an inappropriate comment, and a half hour later we are ready to jump off a cliff (literally). Now we’re not really sure if we are in the right place and as we are walking and looking off every edge to see if it’s right, I realize that we should really ask someone if we are in the right place before we JUMP off a FUCKING CLIFF. Eventually hike down to the right spot and instantly change our minds because the cliff is far out and the water is cold so we do the most anticlimactic thing possible at this moment. We lay down and take a nap. Wake up 40 minutes later and ride over the Thira to go sight seeing. I buy 2 post cards and the women gives me a third for free just cause Greeks are the most hospitable people ever. Now it’s night time and I’m hungry and cold and hungry and just want to get back to the hotel to shower. Of course, cue getting lost on the opposite side of the island for 2 hours. Then cue the ATV running out of gas. Allora…..

Day 2: Wake up hung over. Dear vodka and tequila, I hate you. Go on a boat tour of Santorini. Stop at a volcano and climb it. Hung over incline #375 since coming to Europe. The tour guide was nice but it was hard to understand him and I lost interest when he started drawing pictures of tectonic plates in the dirt. Next stop were “hot” springs which should have been called “tempid” springs. I jumped off the boat and was paralyzed by how cold this water is. Hot springs my ass. Next stop, the most primitive island in all of Greece. Only way up is via the most winding steepest stairs I have ever seen or donkey. I’m not ready for hungover incline #376 so I opt for donkey. We try to negotiate with the man for the price of a ride b/c our tour guide told us 5 euro was too much. Joanna is the queen of bargaining and I think she may have been wearing him down until she pointed out that if he doesn’t let us ride them, no one else will and he will lose money. She said this right as 5 people lined up behind us. We paid the man our 5 euros and jumped on our donkeys which were tied up this point. He starts to untie them one by one and one by they TAKE OFF like they were trying to cross the border for freedom. Luckily, I was one of the 3 who he tied to his donkey. I will never forget the site of my friends taking off on these wild donkeys up a literal 80 degree incline rock path screaming “STOP! PLEASE HELP US HELP US”. It was the definition of a fun donkey ride gone terribly terriblywrong. Things took a turn for the worse when one of the donkey’s knees buckled while on a step, and he lost his footing. All of a sudden, I hear Joanna scream “the donkey kicked me!” and sure enough after looking at her foot, it was clear the knee buckling donkey in front of her had in fact kicked her. She handled it like a champ though and didn’t complain even though her foot was swelling like a melon. The donkey man yelled at all of us (a change from the monotone “hella” he had been repeating over and over again since we started- translation “GO”) made us get down like this was our fault and the worst part: we still had to climb the rest of the path which after arriving at the top, our friends informed us everything was closed. Next, the boat dropped us off at Oia for the sunset and we took a 2 hour pausa. Our American was showing as 20 of us all wrapped in beach towels literally passed out on a pier in the middle of the day. Climbed yet another incline, bought some honey- sesame covered peanuts, and watched the sun go down over the Adriatic Sea in a spectacular show of purple and orange.
That night, dinner at a place owned by a woman from guess where else, Chicago. Random. Stray dogs everywhere and we made friends with Wild Thing and Kinder who followed us everywhere, even back to our hotel. Let them sleep under the table and fed them off our plates, our moms would have a fit if they saw us. After dinner, hit up a bar for Kalyn’s big 21st, lucky girl. When we walked into the bar, there were literally 3 bartenders and dj sitting there doing nothing. Empty bars are not a problem when there are 17+ of you everywhere you go. The bartenders were so thankful (or maybe they were drunk) that somebody had actually come in that they instantly poured us free shots. Well I don’t know how this happened but by the end of the night, every male in the bar had his shirt off including all the people who worked there and the 3 boys who were with us. In 2.4 seconds, it went from quaint Santorini bar to gay male strip club and I was waiting for Boy George to pop out from behind the bar and start singing “its raining men, hallelujah” at any moment. Happy birthday Kalyn!

Day 3: Wake up and hang out at Perissa beach, a 2 second walk from where we stayed. Kinder and Wild Thing join us, of course. On the way there, we stopped at a corner store for something to drink, and tried on these ridiculous looking hats and took pictures in them. The owner thought we liked them and gave them to us. The Greek hospitality strikes once again. Sat on the beach all day, got snaked by Jake, learned some new riddles, passed out, and woke up buried in the sand. Perfect day. That night, we went to meet up with some friends from Milan who were staying in Fira. Went out, danced on the bar for a free shot, and tried to trade my free shot when Alex got kicked out of the bar for falling asleep on the DJ booth. Joanna bargained for a sandwich and we caught a cab home.

Next Stop…..
IOS

Spring Break: It Hates Me (March 19- March 28, 2010)

Location: Barcelona, Granada, and Roma (March 19- March 28, 2010)

In my usual procrastinating manner, I have taken over a month to blog about my Spring Break so this will be all the highlights compressed in the most orderly fashion possible for me. Sorry in advance.

We had a 10 day long break where we went to Barcelona, Granada, and then back to Italy to go to Rome.

Barcelona: Let's RAGE. 9 of us landed in Barcelona at roughly 9 pm and after much discussion about the difference between a tram and the metro along with a little help from Rick Steves (what would we do without Rick?), we found our hostel, Hello BCN. By the time we changed and got ready, it was 11:30 pm. Hmm apparently, we were running a little early for Barcelona where it is the norm to stay out until well into the wee hours of the morning. We grabbed a bite to eat at a place not far from our hostel. Then we figured hey, why wait until we get to the club to pay 5 euro for a shot when we can get them for half the price here? I brought up the idea of shots, made eye contact with Courtney and we both knew where this was going: Mr. Bartender, 7 tequilla shots per favore. In Europe, they serve them with lemons but hey tequila is tequila right? Made our way to the metro and learned that the cat calling of Spanish men puts Italians to shame. Italian men will tell you that you are beautiful and they would like to marry you (creepy, I know) but Spaniards say things that are so dirty I can’t even post them here. Finally made it to the club and considered wearing a shawl out the next night to divert any unwanted attention. The club was standard, not too crowded or too crazy. More tequila shots were involved and at one point someone may have gotten the placement of the tequila shot and the salt confused, it happens… Went to the beach afterwards and although, the water was too cold, just feeling the sand and hearing the ocean was enough to top off the night perfectly. The metro was closed until 5 am, oh wait, it’s 6 am at this point, time to sleep it off. By some miracle we figured out which line would get us back to the hostel and we were in bed by 6:30. Slept for a few hours and woke up to sight see. A friend of Maggie and Alex showed us around all day long and we saw all the main sights including the Temple de la Sagrada Familia and Casa Batllo, both designed by Gaudi who is honestly from another world. His work was so detailed and intense that the Sagrada Familia started construction in 1981 and won’t be done until 2026, each side shows a different emotion, it’s unbelievable. We slowly made our way to the beach and saw some very awkward “modeling shoot” I guess it could be called. Now where ever we go, our friend Kaitlin likes to do some awkward modeling poses (her portfolio will be hitting facebook in late May lol). Bought some bottles of wine and sat looking out over the ocean and thinking that this could not possibly be my life. Went out again the next night and our the tram on the way to the main center, five of us were standing in a circle talking when all of a sudden, Jo Anna turns and screams at this guy “No! His hand was in my purse! He was trying to pick pocket me. You were trying to pick pocket me!”. Honestly it shook us up but her reaction was one of the funniest things I have ever seen and it was effective by alerting everyone around us that there was a pick pocket on the tram. He didn’t get anything and got off at the next stop. Sadly this was not the last time someone attempted to pick pocket one of us but Jo saved the day once again and the pick pocket went home empty handed. Clutching our purses, we made it to a shot bar that has literally hundreds of different fancy shots. I did one called the Olympic Torch- which consisted of sipping flaming alcohol out of half an orange- delicious. Right when I thought it couldn’t get any better, I ordered a Willy Wonka shot that was served with whipped cream and a healthy portion of milk chocolate. Allora…. Went to a bar called Oshum where we had to be on a list, and apparently guys couldn’t where white shoes? I don’t know but it was a HUGE club that had a man playing a violin on one of the raised platforms. More tequila. This time we called it an early night, we were in bed by 4.
Suday- tour to kill time before our flight, go to Park Well, an entire park designed by Gaudi that looked like a Ginger Bread village on crack. Climbed yet another incline hung over. Time to go.

Granada: Sunday, it is time to leave BCN- 2 nights was enough for me. Arrived in Granada that night, a much smaller town that I like to think of as the Spanish counterpart to Verona. Called it an early night, ready to detox from drinking my body weight in tequila shots. The next day, 2 more friends of friends, Amy and Kathleen, showed us around and we went to this beautiful look out over the city. We took it easy, still recovering from BCN. Went out that night, and had tapas which are the most genius thing I have ever heard of. You buy a drink and get free food with every drink, dinner and happy hour at the same time. Then we went to a bar with all you can drink beer and wine for 5 euro. I had a couple glasses of wine and learned that the thieves can follow you from Barcelona when I had my purse complete with camera and 40 euro stolen. I called it a night at this point. The next day we toured the Al Hambra which is the last standing Muslim Castle in Spain. Climbed the mother of all inclines, hung over…again.. what a shocker. The castle was beautiful and well worth the climb. The weather the whole time was sunny and warm. Also, something to note. In every bar or club we went to, we saw the same 80 year old man wearing the same cloths and reading a newspaper. It was very odd and upon closer examination, we realized that he had the grossest finger nails I had ever seen and might have been on coke, interesting. From Granada, our group broke up and 4 of us headed to ROMA for the next 4 days!

Wednesday morning: Joanna, Maggie, Kaitlin and myself headed to the Granada airport which with its 1 security line and total of 2 gates was by far the smallest airport I have ever been in. We watched a Siamese cat look both ways before crossing the street therefore deserving some of our breakfast. We fed him bread and named him Pepe ( Kaitlin hates cats). Next we got to enjoy a lovely 5 hour layover in the Madrid airport. Ryanair made us exit the very nice clean terminal to go out and check in again even though the connecting flight was with them. We walked out and realized that we couldn’t check in for another 3 hours, awesome Ryanair. There was one option to eat at and lets just say it came in second to worst food I have eaten abroad after the self service place in Florence. Kaitlin paid 7 euro for a basket of onion rings and thought the guy was ripping her off only to realize later that she had missed the sign informing her that each of the 20 ketchup packets she grabbed was 20 cents. This man at the table next to us slept for the ENTIRE 3 hours, we took pictures of him, we’re creepy. Checked in and while waiting at the gate, the exhaustion of the past few days finally set in resulting in the most crude and disgusting game of “would you rather” that I have ever played. Right as we realized how loud we were being, we checked for reactions to our disturbing conversation and when we found none, we figured no one around us spoke English until a lovely British boy sitting literally 3 feet away turned around and asked if we knew the calling code for the U.S. Whether he needed the calling code or was just trying to silence us, we will never know. About 20 min later the craziest thing that I have ever seen in an airport occurred. Flights like Ryanair don’t assign seats so everyone lines up to get a good seat 20 minutes before we even board, it is very annoying. Well we were at the back of the line too cracked out on exhaustion to even care about our seats when someone comes over the intercom and announces that the gate has been changed. Literally every single person in line turns and sprints across the airport toward us. We all hunkered down out of pure fear of the 100+ rolling suitcases coming our way and before you know it, Kaitlin’s passport is knocked from her hand and being swept across the Madrid airport under someone’s suitcase resulting in her running and nearly tackling the guy. Absolutley ridiculous.

Rome: Arrived at the Termini train station in Rome at approximately 12 am. Find our hostel and learn 2 things first hand. First thing: why googling “Hostels in Rome with free breakfast” is not a good idea and Second: that Rome has a China town. We knock on the door for Cherry Hostel and an asian woman in her pajamas answers looking utterly confused. She calls for another guy who comes out and just looks at us for a few minutes. We told him we have a reservation and he proceeds to pull out a notebook that I’m pretty sure I have seen at the UNO EURO store for little kids and starts riffling threw the pages with pencil scribbles on them. I knew at this point that something had gone terribly terribly wrong. My suspicions were confirmed when he lead back out of the hostel onto the street and down three blocks to a completely different building. Then took us up to a place resembling a crack house and opened the door of our room with a key on a playboy bunny key chain. The room was well exactly what I expected at this point. Joanna and I shared a twin bed because her sheets had weird stains on them. Panicked, we took turns calling our parents and made a unanimous decision that we needed to leave the next morning at all costs. We go down the next morning and tell the man, who by the way was wearing the exact same cloths he had on the night before, that we have an emergency in Verona and need to pay the cancellation fee and go. He asks “Non ti piace?” (You don’t like?). We lie and tell him it was lovely, I don’t know why. We pay with cash and he had no change, no cashbox, and another asian woman who looked like she may have just gotten home from the night before and maybe could possibly be a prostitute comes in and makes change for us out her purse. Also, I feel the need to add at this point that the “free breakfast” was half a loaf of bread and the quote of the night goes to Kaitlin Kienzel- “We are one step above the people sleeping outside the Termini train station, maybe…”
So, let me get you up to speed. We have 3 more nights in Rome and we have just checked out of our hostel with nowhere else to stay. We drown our sorrows in where else? McDonalds where a McFlurry has never tasted so good as it did that day. Luckily, Maggie’s parents were coming in that day and had a hotel room. We found their place and at this point all I want is a shower, actually make that 2 showers; one to clean off the remains of Cherry Hostel and the other to actually shower. We ask the nice man behind the counter if he has any rooms available and he calls his friend. We learned that in Europe, you can bargain for anything, even your housing and when push comes to shove, it wasn’t yet the height of tourist season and we ended up staying at a beautiful bed and breakfast not far from Maggie’s parents place for a fraction of what it should have been and not that much more than we paid for Cherry. Finally got that shower I needed to badly and went out to see the city. Quickly realized that cabs were well worth the 2 euro each of us had to chip in. Some friends of the girls I was with were studying in Rome so they showed us around to all the usual sights, Spanish steps, Pantheon, and the Trevi Fountain all around dusk so it was breathtaking. Then they took us out and I knew it was going to be a long night when I asked for a chaser for my Bacardi shot and they poured me a glass of wine. We went to a bar and surprise, surprise- more tequila shots. The next day, we managed to drag our hung over selves out of bed quite early. We went out to eat and I had the best pizza I have had since coming to Italy and we started our tour of the Vatican with Maggie’s parents and a tour guide. Getting a tour guide for the Vatican is worth it or else you have no idea what you’re looking at. Our tour guide was a 26 year old American artist and she was well, very colorful. She tried to bust out a joke but it was so bad that I accidently called her out by asking if it was a joke. She didn’t like me much after that. We saw all around the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel which blew me away. I don’t know how Michelangelo did it, looking up all the time, my neck hurt after a half hour. It was also very cool to see because we went the Friday before Palm Sunday and got to see the Vatican setting up. Our hostel was actually 2 blocks from the Vatican so I walked by St. Peter’s Basilica a couple times each day I was there. Went out to eat with the friends from Rome who took us to dinner at a place called Antonio’s where they go so much that they literally high fived the owner, Tony, as we were walking in. Unlike us Verona kids who annoy the shit out of every restaurant we eat in, these kids are so adored that we received free wine and desert. Finally had the white truffle cream sauce Kaitlin was obsessed with. Went out to a main square with a ton of outdoor bars, Kaitlin did a flaming lamborgini which looks just as menacing as it sounds and I took her and Joanna home almost immediately. Maggie “Mi dispiace..NO”. Next day,we woke up to Kaitlin crying that her finger was hurting. Upon further examination, I saw it was swollen and purple aorund her ring. Turns out she had moved it to a different finger while she was a little tipsy and fallen asleep with it on the wrong finger, which was also too big for the ring. I grab butter and soap to no prevail. Eventually Maggie comes in to save the day, Joanna is hunkering down in the corner hiding, and I am about lose my breakfast and telling them that I will pay for the cab to the hospital. Maggie twists and eventually gets it off, we all relax, and go back to breakfast. Today, we laugh about this but at the time I thought I was going to have a four fingered friend. Later that day, we saw the usual sights- Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, and the Colosseum all breath taking once you realize how old it is and how realistically it should not still be standing. No tour guide, but we read out of who else? Rick Steves, yes he saved the day again. Went out to eat with Maggie and her parents and called it an early night which our bed and breakfast appreciated considering they had someone waiting up for us to let us in each night we were there. Next day was palm Sunday and although we did not have tickets, we still went to the Vatican and watched the service. I’m not Catholic but I still took in everything around me and not many people can say they went to a Palm Sunday service given by the Pope.

After a full 10 days of travel I arrived home to Verona, realized I lost my keys in Rome, and was locked out of my apartment. Allora…

Unoffically Deported (March 11- March 19, 2010)

So after getting home from Prague, I finally received a break that was about 2 weeks and 1 weekend long from traveling. The first week we were back however just happened to be my friend Maggie’s 21st birthday and our Unofficially Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day. No rest for the weary. We made Maggie a huge birthday dinner complete with tiramisu and tiramisu gelato for desert. Then we all went out to Campus (where else?) and needles to say Maggie had to go home early and her 21st was a success. The next day, we woke her up with a beer and discovered that drinking more really is the best cure for a hangover. The festivities started at about noon to celebrate Unofficial which is usually celebrated the Friday before St. Patrick’s Day but with 38 U of I kids, we brought Unofficial to Verona. Unfortunately, we forgot that unlike at U of I, we live in an apartment building that has real people: adults, children, business people, a door man and they could not comprehend the 20+ Americans wearing green and slamming 40’s before 2 pm on a Friday. Whoops, our America was definitely showing. In the end, we pissed everyone off, the threat of deportation was thrown out there, we apologized, and we were forgiven and it was all chalked up to “Oh, they’re American” haha.

Later that same day, Corey came to visit for a whole week. I was so excited to see him after 2 months! The poor kid had a 9 hour layover in Rome before he could fly to the smaller airport in Verona b/c the pilots went on strike but he made it. He even remembered to bring me some little reminders of home (peanut butter, ranch, and solo cups). We had another fabulous Claudio trip planned that weekend and Claudio was more than pleased to have Corey come along. Saturday, we went to Murano and Venice and to a hand blown glass factory. Murano is where blown glass originated (fact of the day). The Factory was cool but it could have been better but I did get some pretty sweet gifts for the fam. Went to lunch and Corey got to experience a Claudio meal complete with wine, dessert, and squid? Well we were brave enough to try it on pasta and honestly, I didn’t hate it. Later went to a Lace School which was well, full of lace. It did give us a good laugh though when he lady held up a piece of lace and told us “Now this is something you should take a picture of.” We all held up our cameras and did as instructed but had no idea why. Apparently certain kinds of lace take almost a year to make, interesting. Sunday, we went on what is probably my favorite Claudio trip to date. We went back to Lake Garda and went all along the opposite side to Garda Lake and Bordolino. The weather along the lake was sunny and warm. Then we took a cable car up a mountain, Monte Baldo. It was hard to believe that in the same town people were sailing on the lake and skiing down the mountain. The top of was like a beach party on the mountain with people in ski gear laying out on recliners, playing disco music, and drinking beer. It was my kind of mountain top. By the time, we came down, we were all ready for a hardy Claudio meal, which is exactly what we got. The first course took about an hour to make it to the table but the wine was there right on time so we were pretty buzzed by the time the food rolled in. This meal was a little different because it consisted all kinds of fresh squid and salmon. Another successful Claudio meal? Check! I have this theory that Claudio fill us up and gets us drunk so that he can get some peace and quiet on the bus ride back to Verona after a weekend with us lol I’m jk but seriously though…..

Corey had a great week here and got to tour Milan in addition to Venice, Verona and Lake Garda. In Milan, we learned why you can never trust someone when they tell you something is free. This man put a woven rainbow bracelet around my wrist, tied it, all the while telling Corey that his wife was beautiful and this gift was free from him. Then gave Corey one along with one for our "future babies" and right as we were about to walk away asked for a "donation". On the upside, every time we encountered one of these bracelet men, we just held up our already tagged wrists and they backed off so I guess it was worth the one euro we "donated". I introduced Corey to gnocchi and he even got to tag along on another trip for my business class chaperoned by the one and only, Claudio. Bauli cake factory where we saw where the traditional Veronese cake is made. The factory reminded me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and with the get-up they made us wear in the factory, we were the ompa lumpas in this scenario. The second half of the trip was to where else? A winery complete with a tour and yes, you guessed it- a tasting. I purchased a few bottles of wine for 5 euro and Corey made sure to get enough wine to last him until his homesickness for Italy began to fade.

Idea Verona: Is This Real Life?

Now I know that I have dedicated a large portion of this blog to my travels around Europe but I just want to take a moment (a pausa if you will) to talk about Verona and why I have absolutely zero regrets for studying abroad in this wonderful little bubble right smack dab between Milano and Venezia. These are the top 5 reasons why after each day here, I think to myself "This is not real life."

1. Idea Verona. My friends ask me is this a university? My answer is I have no fucking clue. I guess it is a language arts and cultural school? I don't know, I'm just here to hang out in Europe for 4 months, that's all I know.

2. My classes are a JOKE. Test? NO. Homework? NO. I have had one test since I got here in Italian 1, everyone got A's or A+'s. For my business class, we go on field trips to different factories. Our first trip was to a shoe factory right outside of Verona. I got a free pair of 200 euro suede boots as a gift from the owner. For going to class. If teachers used this kind of incentive instead of I-Clickers, class attendance would sky rocket. Then went to a winery and got a private wine testing. I got drunk with my business teacher and received class credit for it. This does not happen in America. My Italian teacher likes to learn English as we learn Italian. She taught us that in New York, they call hangovers "driving the bus" because they hug the toilet as they get sick and we taught her "Peace out" and who Mario Lopez is. She is going to pass all of us, I guarantee it. For photography class last week, we watched One Hour Photo and went home. This week we went to a park nearby and I got to take pictures just hanging out with my friends playing on a jungle gym. Not real life.

3. Claudio trips. Who is Claudio? Kill yourself.
Haha I'm just playing, but seriously kill yourself. Claudio is the shit. He is my 54 year old program director, business teacher and unofficial mayor of Verona. He is basically our babysitter and he takes us on 4 big group trips during our time here. So far we have gone to Montava and Soave, Lake Garda, Venice and Murano, and in a couple of weeks, we are going to Asiago. Claudio trips are fun for several reasons but the 2 main ones: the FOOD and WINE which are included in every meal we have on our trips. He is a true Italian because he can't stand it when our plates or wine glass are empty and because of this, I usually have trouble standing after the meal. Sometimes, we get lucky and he brings his lovely wife Rita and adorable 9 year old son Pedro with on trips and they keep us entertained for hours. Claudio is worth the extra $1,000 excursion fee I spent on this program just to hang out with him.

4. The people on my program. Shout out to Locatelli where family dinners and drunken pregames are the norm until the threat of deportation is thrown out there (seriously that happened lol). My program consists of 38 of the craziest fuckers I have ever had the pleasure to party with. All so different yet we're all the same. The bad news: I only have a little over a month left with them. The good news: they all go to U of I. Now that is not real life.

5. You can get drunk, get lost, and get a ride home with a random Italian man at 3 in the morning and live to tell about it. Not saying that this happened to me but I have a friend...


They are going to have drag me out of this city, I'm not kidding.
Allora...
Mia

Prague: Me Confused

Prague was the last stop on my little three week trek across Europe also known as the month of February. This trip was a little different from the others because we had a group of only 7 of us unlike the 14+ we usually roll with freshmen year style. Every time we travel we have to fly out of Milan which is a 2 hour train ride followed by anywhere from a 10 min to 1 1/2 hour bus ride depending on the airport. Well we booked our flight to Prague within the first couple weeks we were here and did not realize all this and we booked the flight for so early on Friday that there is no train early enough to get us to the airport on time. Whooops. Solution: take a train on Thursday night and spend the night in the airport. Easier said than done my friend. Especially considering I don't like airports, or laying tile floors, or the cold, or being herded around the airport like cattle by airport security. Considered spooning with a random stranger who lay down next to me for warmth but decided against it. You can't go into the terminal until 2 hours before your flight so we got to sleep in 4 different places by the main doors. When we finally were able to check in and go to our gate, we saw that the terminal has plush couches and soft floors and free Dance Dance Revolution. You know your life has hit a low point when you look at a couch in a McDonald's and think "Man, I would have given anything to have been able to have slept here last night."
The Sights: We got to Prague plenty early on Friday and took a walking tour around the city. The city is beautiful but it is so unbelievably fucking cold. I had no idea, it was the kind of cold that really made me think I might lose a foot or a couple toes to frostbite by the end of this tour. Bought a pair of wool socks for 20 Crowns which is the equivalent of 1 Euro, best Euro I ever spent seriously. We met up with Morgan, the friend of one of the girls on our trip who was studying in Prague and she showed us all around the city. Found a bagel place called Bohemian Bagel that Morgan told us was a destination spot for homesick Americans. We ate breakfast there twice. Saturday, we saw the famous John Lennon wall which was beautiful. It was a wall that students created after Lennon died, the Russian communists would come and paint over it everyday. After the fall of Communism in 1989, they made it legal to graffiti on the wall and it changes everyday covered with spiritual and inspirational sayings. On Sunday we went to the famous Jewish district including a 600 year old Jewish cemetary and an ancient synagoge. The synagoge was painted with the names of 77,000 Czech Jews who were killed in Hitler's concentration camps. It also contains several painting done by children who were in the camps. The story behind the paintings is that an art teacher smuggled art supplies into the camp when she was transported there. She used to let the children come and create paintings that depicted how they were feeling and after she died, they found 2 of her suitcases filled with hundreds of paintings. It was really incredible to be able to go see these artworks by these kids who had no other outlet to express themselves through. Prague was a really cheap city too compared to Italy and the US even. I ate nice steak dinners for 180 Crowns aka 9 Euro aka 10 American dollars. Very nice. Again, I took advantage of the English movie theaters and we saw Alice in Wonderland with Czech subtitles. Castles, bridges, pretty views of the city, etc.
Nightlife: The first night we went out to a club that played 80's and 90's music complete with huge screens playing the video. We drank Absinthe from a bottle we bought at the grocery store for like 10 American dollars and sand along to old N'SYNC and Grease songs. Great night. The next night, we went to a five story dance club where each floor had a different theme. It was very cool and the equivalent of 5 different clubs in one. Afterwards, I had one of Prague's famous fried cheeses rapidly folowed by a second of Prague's fried cheeses. Who knew fried cheese on a bun with mustard and ketchup could be so delicious. Not me.
Funny things that happened on the trip: Well this isn't really that funny but it kind of is. When we first got there, we had to buy a metro pass to get around the city and we were told that you must have your pass with you at all times because if you get stopped and you dont have it, you have to pay 700 KC (35 Euro), Well on the first night, our friend Kaitlin lost hers and so of course, Murphy's Law, we got stopped. We thought we would be cute and try to do a pass back with one of our passes but the Metro Gustapo was smarter than the doorman at Kams and we got caught. Lesson learned, do not try to fool a middle aged Czech man cause they get pisssssed. In my drunken stupor, I texted Morgan to meet us at the club on Saturday and instead of saying We are confused, I shortened it to "We are line, me confused." I'm blaming it on T9 and my already disabled texting skills. It was an instant inside joke. There is this famous bridge in Prague called Charles Bridge. For some odd reason, we kept calling it St. Charles Bridge. I think that after living in Italy, I will attach Saint on to everything. Morgan kept correcting us but 20 minutes later we were asked directions to the club we were just at and Kaitlin told them it was right by St. Charles bridge. Fail. Oh well. Ciao, Mia

"If you can't find your fetish in Amsterdam, then you are one sick bastard."- Amsterdam tour guide

This could not be more true. The minute I stepped off the tram into Amsterdam's city square, I knew I was in a different world. The smell of pot wafted out of every "coffee shop" as I made my way to my hostel. My hostel, Shelter City, looked out of place smack dab in the middle of the infamous Red Light District while also trying to rock a "Jesus Loves You" sign above the door. Ironic because literally 10 feet away, there were windows with hookers who clearly did not have Jesus on their minds at that moment or let's be honest, probably ever. Hmm what have I gotten myself into here. I met up with one of my best friends and roommmate from U Of I who was studying abroad in Norway and decided last minute to jump on the Amsterdam train with me and together we found this hostel the day before we were suppossed to leave. Spontaneity, gotta love it. We dropped our stuff off in the room and instantly went to explore the city. We were busy filling each other in on our travels when all of sudden I was startled by one of the girls in the window looking directly at me. She saw me startle back and decided it would be funny to tap on the window to freak me out even more. Thanks, bitch- and that was the first hooker I met in Amsterdam.
We randomly ran into some of my friends and we decided to head out to the one of the citiest busiest (and safest) tourist attractions- the Anne Frank House. It was really interesting becasue her book is one of my favorites and it was crazy to be in the place she lived while she wrote it.
Saurday, we went on a free walking tour of the city and our tour guide explained that there was much more to Amsterdam than just weed and hookers. And I must say that I agree with this statment. The city of Amsterdam is actually really pretty, especially once you get away form the Red Light district. The tour guide was hilarious and gave us the quote that I used to title this post.He was English and said that he came to Amsterdam on a trip one time and the beauty of the city made him stay (Yea, I'm sure "the beauty" of the city is what made him stay). We also learned that there are more bikes than people in the city, there are more canals than Venice, and there are more bikes in the canals than any where else (25,000 to be exact). Apparently a favorite Dutch past time is to find bikes that are not tied up and toss them in the canals. Hey whatever, everyone has to get their kicks somewhere right? We decided to stop off at a famous coffeehouse wheere a scene from Ocean's 12 is filmed. We ordered muffins. The muffins were good. You can fill in the blank with how special these particular muffins were. We then planned to go to the Van Gogh museum and the Heinekin factory and then we learned that the phrase "Let's eath these muffins and then go to (insert the blank)" is truly an oxymoron becasue I did not want to go anywhere. I don't know how the Dutch get anything done in life knowing these space cakes exist. Well, we ended up making in to the Heinekin Factory after getting lost for a good 45 min. The Heinekin factory was actually really cool but a waste of 15 bucks because other than the room that had comfortable couches and played Heinekin ads on a big screen for an hour straight, I couldn't tell you anything else that I saw there. Oh well.... That night we decided to lay low and go to a few cafes around Amsterdam. I did my first shot of Absinthe which not gonna lie, did not live up to my expectations but I guess it was only one shot. The next day Sarah and I hit up the Rembrandt house which is the house he used to live and work in. Honestly, it sucked. It cost me 6 euros and I think that was 5.50 euros too much. Everything in the house was a recreation and other than the fact that he once lived at that address, it was not his house. Then we went to a cafe before we left for the airport, I ate another really good muffin, and airport security will never be the same to me ever again. I was in the perfect state of mind for leaving Amsterdam and it couldn't have been a better weekend.

Update next week on Prague this weekend

Ciao for now
Mia

Ireland: Shower Me in Guiness

Dear Mom,
I am moving to Ireland.
See you at Christmas!
Amelia

WARNING: This post is disgustingly long and sorry I'm not sorry.

Ireland is one of my favorite places in the whole world. I had never been before but it felt like home. We caught a flight early on Friday morning and flew into Dublin then a 3 hour bus to Galway We flew in to Dublin and then took a 3 hour bus straight to Galway. It was love at first site. Galway was so quaint and beautiful and is a college town so the nightlife was all pubs and live music. The first night we went to a pub that was right across the street from our hostel and saw a band who played a mix of new and traditional Irish music. They even played Galway girl (from P.S. I Love You).
On Saturday, we took a tour of the Irish countryside which is just as gorgeous (if not more) than it is depicted in pictures and movies. It literally took my breathe away. The first place went to was the Ailwee Caves. They are estimated to be a few million of years old and we took a tour through them. Ofcourse, it was pitch black and I managed to wander off the path and into a puddle a foot deep. Even in the pitch black, after hearing the splash, someone went "That has got to be Amelia". Haha, it's so hard to be me sometimes. The next thing we went to was the Cliffs of Moher which is the most incredible thing I have ever seen. They are the number one tourist attraction in Ireland for a reason. There were gates up but you could have easily climbed over and gone to the edge which was very dangerous because it is easy to slip and fall. Of course, I had to cross the barricade and get a little closer, I am a risk taker after all.It was windy and muddy, don't worry though, if the fear of falling to my death didn't stop me from getting any closer to the edge, the fear of ruining my favorite pair of boots stopped me dead in my tracks After stopping in the gift shop, which strangely enough was designed by the same person who designed the Telletubbie house (random usless fact), we headed back on to the bus and saw some other really cool sites including a magic fertility well (keep me far away from that please), an old Irish Castle, and some limestone over 40,00 years old. We climbed down between the crevasses of the limestone and took some incredible pictures.
That night we got all dressed up and went out to a few local pubs. The first one was really crowded and I met some Irish guys who were out for their buddy's bachelor party. They were nice enough until the guy I was talking to stopped and out of nowhere said "I'm sorry I don't usually say this but you have really nice boobies. You should be on the Hills." Are you serious dude? That's your best pick up line? I guess I made a face that showed what I was thinking because my friend Lisa who overheard laughed so hard that she sprayed an entire mouthful of Guiness all over my fucking face. There was a good 10 seconds where no one involved said anything until Alex, one of the boys on the program, turned around to see what happened and the look on his face literally made me laugh until I had tears. We then made an immediate decision to leave the bar and surprisingly the guy who made the boobie comment tried to stop me from leaving even as I had second hand Guiness dripping down my face. We made it outside and Alex took his shirt and cleaned me up a bit before we made our way to the next pub. Lisa then gave me a beer to make up for the whole spit-beer-in-my-face-thing. Little did I know that the beer she handed me she had actually snuck in in her purse and was contraband in the the bar. I did not realize this until a bouncer came up and tried to kick me out. The first and only time I have ever been asked to leave a bar and it's in Ireland. Ain't that just fan-fucking-tastic. Well I was able to talk my way out of it and he allowed me to stay. Thanks Lisa, this girl spit beer in my face in one bar and almost got me kicked out of the other one all in the span of like 15 min. Haha, I still love her though. She apologized and bought me a beer or two so it was all good (although I did make her stay at least 5 feet away from me for the rest of the night- just to be safe).
Sunday, we took the bus back to Dublin and took a bus tour around the city and the Guiness factory. The Guiness factory was alright but the coolest thing by far was the 360 degree view of Dublin you got at the top of the factory in their Gravity Bar. We enjoyed our free pint of beer and meet some Irish/English/Dutch guys who like to hang around the bar there and finish up pints of Guiness left behind by tourists who like the view more than the beer. Gross but they reassured us that they critique the person very closely before deciding to finish their leftovers. Good to know, I guess. They reminded me a lot of my friends back in the States and it was refreshing because unlike the Italian men, they were not trying to make out with me before they even knew my name. We exchanged numbers and met up later at a local bar for some where we listened to traditional live Irish music. I learned that the Irish and English sense of humor is very sarcastic and witty and they had me laughing the whole night. The next day the group departed and Britta and I were left on our own because we didn't leave until Tuesday. We milled around the city, saw an old historic prison, and caught a movie (in ENGLISH-yes!). The best part of the day by far was going back to the hostel because we met a guy from Maine trying to go pro in soccer in Irlenad, a Hungarian who has every season of Friends on DVD, and 2 Norweigan guys who looked unnaturally tan considering it is 20 degrees in their country at the moment. Britta was finally able to forge some solid ground between the different cultures and we were all able to agree on 2 things: 1.) Friends is hilarious and 2.) The 1996 Bulls were awesome. I don't think anyone can argue with these facts of life. Then we headed to the airport and spent the night sleeping on couches in the airport McDonalds before our early morning flight left and I made it on time to my 2 o'clock class that same day. Ahhh, I love my life.